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Seven time Emmy winner and Grammy nominee Steven
Ray Allen has teamed his nylon guitar with the woodwind instruments
of the multi-talented Doug Ostgard to produce a 60 minute CD,
“Silhouette” They are currently working on a Christmas recording
and their second CD, which will be oriented more towards jazz.
Ostgard and Allen first met at the University of Washington,
and often played together around the Seattle area. Back in the day,
Steve was known as one of Seattle's finest bass players, and became
the house bassist at the Jazz Alley. But when Doug moved back to
the Seattle area after living in Las Vegas for many years, he
contacted Steve about playing together, and then discovered Steve
was now focusing on guitar. "Even better!" was Doug's response,
and the duo was born.
Before moving to Las Vegas, Doug played regularly in the pit
orchestras at the 5th Avenue Theater, the Paramount Theatre,
Jack McGovern’s Music Hall and The Moore Egyptian. He was also a
member of the 1980 Heart World Tour. While living in Las Vegas,
Doug performed at a number of showrooms including Caesar’s Palace
and the Las Vegas Hilton, working with a large number of entertainers
including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Ann-Margret.
Steve Allen began playing music professionally at age 12, and
performed with various groups on and off the road through his teens
and 20s, playing all styles of music from rock to classical. He
became especially known for his bass playing, performing with such
jazz greats as Tommy Flanigan, Hank Jones, Herb Ellis, Diane Schure
and Kenny G. He was bandleader and bassist for “The Almost Live Show”
from 1984-89. He earned a degree in Musical Engineering from the
University of Washington and has his own music production company,
AM Music Productions in Fall City, Washington. His reputation as an
arranger and conductor has led him to arrange orchestral scores for
David Lanz, earning him his first gold record for “Christofori’s Dream”
and a grammy nonimination. Along the way he has collected 7 Emmy awards
for music on various documentaries. In the 90's, Steve studied with
the renowned American guitarist Christopher Parkening.
Doug Ostgard plays an array of woodwinds, including flutes,
Irish whistles, oboe, bassoon, clarinets and saxophones along with
Steve Allen on steel string and classical guitar.
What musicians have influenced their styles? Steve lists Andrew York,
Ralph Towner, Oregon, Pat Metheny, Yellowjackets, and John Williams.
Doug mentions Hubert Laws, Cannonball Adderley, Paul McCandless,
Phil Woods, Paul Desmond, James Galway, James Moody, and Dave Grusin.
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